Announcing the Blue Ridge Harvest Calendar!
The idea is to document wild harvest dates throughout the seasons and we are looking for your help! All you have to do is submit notes on your harvest dates through our online submission form. At the end of the year we will be compiling the data into a 2016 printed harvest calendar to distribute throughout the community.
We are excited to announce, in partnership with The Blue Ridge Woodland Growers, our first ever crowd-sourced project: The Blue Ridge Harvest Calendar!
The idea is to document wild harvest dates throughout the seasons and we are looking for your help! All you have to do is submit notes on your harvest dates through our online submission form. At the end of the year we will be compiling the data into a 2016 printed harvest calendar to distribute throughout the community.
The second thing you should do is subscribe to the calendar e-mail feed so that you get real time updates about local harvests!
We are not only looking information about harvests but also bloom dates, recipes, tools for harvesting, stories and any other tidbits you might want to share. Imagine that calendar hanging on the wall in 2016, full of all sorts of wonderful information on morels, ramps, blueberries, paw paws, oyster mushrooms, wintergreen and many others. We need your help to make it happen.
For those of you who aren’t inclined to the internet or would just like something nice to hang on the wall, we have created a printable 2015 Blue Ridge Harvest Calendar for you to take notes on throughout the year and eventually share with our editor Lukas Burgher to be entered into the calendar database. This calendar is available for download on our webpage or you can pick up a hard copy at a local event including the Mount Rogers Naturalist Rally and the Independence Farmer’s Market. Don't forget to subscribe to the feed for updates.
Get started here:
Blue Ridge Harvest Calendar
Calendar Submission Form
Printable 2015 Blue Ridge Harvest Calendar
Morel Mushroom
At this time of year, eager and intrepid mushroom hunters go in search of the highly sought morel. Understood by many to be one of the finest delicacies of the fungi world, hunters are loath to reveal their hot spots. The harvest window is sudden and short, meaning one has to be in the right place at the right time. Before I go any further, I am not an expert by any stretch, so do pay attention to the sources listed at the end of this feature.
At this time of year, eager and intrepid mushroom hunters go in search of the highly sought morel. Understood by many to be one of the finest delicacies of the fungi world, hunters are loath to reveal their hot spots. The harvest window is sudden and short, meaning one has to be in the right place at the right time. Before I go any further, I am not an expert by any stretch, so do pay attention to the sources listed at the end of this feature.
Morels are in the family Morchellaceae, with three genera and several more species. Most of these are considered edible, but it is highly recommended that they be cooked. Similar enough in appearance, false morels, family Helvellacaea, contain many poisonous species, meaning the harvester needs to have solid knowledge and identification skills. As in all wild harvesting, caution is the first rule.
Sticking with the true morels, or sponge mushrooms, distinguishing features (with the exception of the cup shaped morels, genus Disciotis) are thin brain like fleshy folds, brown to tan color and hollow stem. I have been told and shown that morels like apple trees and orchards. For a more extensive look at habitat, I refer you to this http://amateurmycology.com/?p=637.
And for further reading sources:
-Mushrooms by Kent and Vera McKnight (Peterson Field Guide)
-Mushrooms Demystified by David Arora
Scott Jackson-Ricketts
Carol Broderson asked me to post these pictures of the morels that she and Chris found. They left quite a few.
